GalleryIraq war: 10 years on

A US soldier shows off a captured Iraqi flag from a cross-border raid during the invasion on March 21, 2003.

Getty Images: Scott Nelson

Hundreds of thousands of people march through central London to protest against the proposed war on Iraq on February 15, 2003. Similar mass demonstrations took place across the world.

Getty Images: Ian Waldie

A sign is painted on the Sydney Opera House on March 18, 2003, protesting against the war in Iraq.

AAP: Mick Tsikas

Australian soldiers stand guard in the port town of Umm Qasr, on the Iraq-Kuwait border, on March 25, 2003.

Getty Images: Ian Waldie

Iraqi civilians pass tanks on a bridge in Basra, Iraq, during the US-led war on Iraq on March 29, 2003.

Getty Images: Spencer Platt

US marines climb to topple the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad's al-Fardous square on April 9, 2003.

Getty Images: Wathiq Khuzaie

US president George W Bush makes a speech on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, declaring combat operations over in Iraq, on May 1, 2003.

Reuters: Larry Downing

An Iraqi woman and child watch US soldiers carry out a raid in Tikrit on October 17, 2003.

Getty Images: Joe Raedle

US president George W Bush arrives in Baghdad for a surprise visit to US troops in Iraq on November 27, 2003.

AFP: Anja Niedringhaus

Iraqis in Baghdad read newspaper reports about the capture of former president Saddam Hussein on December 15, 2003.

Getty Images: Joe Raedle

An Iraqi man turns away from the damage done to a restaurant in Baghdad by a New Year's Eve bombing on January 1, 2004.

Getty Images: Chris Hondros

Australian Prime Minister John Howard pays his respects at a dawn service in Baghdad during an Anzac Day visit to Australian troops in Iraq on April 25, 2004.

AFP: Kate Geraghty

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein sits in court in Baghdad as a list of charges are read out on July 1, 2004.

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Members of the Al-Mehdi army - loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr - prepare to battle US troops in Baghdad on August 7, 2004.

Getty Images: Joe Raedle

A US marine sits on the floor as he is trapped in a building during a ground offensive in Fallujah, Iraq, on November 9, 2004.

Getty Images: Marco Di Lauro

Samar Hassan screams after her parents were killed by US soldiers in a shooting in Tal Afar, Iraq, on January 18, 2005. The troops fired on the Hassan family car when it unwittingly approached them during a dusk patrol in the tense northern Iraqi town. Parents Hussein and Camila Hassan were killed instantly.

Getty Images: Chris Hondros

A man shows off his inked finger after voting in Iraq's first elections in the city of Najaf on January 30, 2005.

Getty Images: Brent Stirton

Australian hostage Douglas Wood, an engineer working in Iraq, appears on television pleading for his life on May 2, 2005.

Sky television

US army military policeman process new detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad on October 27, 2005. The population of prisoners at Abu Ghraib had grown to almost 5,000 in 2005, out of a total of about 12,000 under US military custody nationwide.

Getty Images: John Moore

Iraqi television shows former president Saddam Hussein being prepared for execution in Baghdad, on December 30, 2006.

Iraq television

US General David Petraeus gives his first press conference after taking over the command of US forces in Iraq, in Baghdad's Green Zone on March 8, 2007.

Getty Images: Chris Hondros

US army soldiers wait to load onto their armoured vehicles at Camp Adder in Iraq on December 7, 2011. The soldiers were pulling out of the country as part of America's military exodus, which was planned for the end of December of that year.

Getty Images: Joe Raedle

Ten years on from the 2003 invasion of Iraq, look back at some of the most striking images and key moments from the conflict.